Redefining Himself
by DeltaEnlightenment
Summary: Justin does not want to leave after he helps out the Astro Rangers. Life in Angel Grove was never the same after his team left, and he rarely saw his father. So, what happens when he refuses to let his team leave him behind again?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

Hey all! Long time no see. Just wanted to let all of you know that this is posted under my newer AO3 account and that I will be cross posting almost everything new on here and there! Thanks!

Chapter 1

Cassie was not surprised at the turn of events. They all should have expected that Justin's life was not going to be all sunshine and rainbows when they left him on earth. Justin did not want to go back to his father's house. It seemed like he was practically living on his own again. Mr. Stewart was not a good father. He was ever more absent than before, and Justin was paying for it. He'd been calmly pleading with TJ and Ashley for an hour. Things started to escalate when Ashley tried to push him into Storm Blaster to go home.

"I can't go back there!" Justin yelled at Ashley, her reasoning were lost on the thirteen year old.

"What are we supposed to do, Justin? You can't stay, you have a broken morpher. The last of its power was drained in our last battle," she said. Cassie rolled her eyes at the yellow rangers reasoning. She could see a hundred things that Ashley couldn't. Justin had more brain power than all of them combined.

"Really, Justin. We can't do anything," TJ said firmly. He may be the Astro's blue, but he was still Justin's red.

"I don't know? Listen to me? Try and help me instead of sending me back there? Let me go back to the group home and help me get there? I could stay here with you. You clearly need a tech other than Alpha. I could be your Billy!" Justin yelled.

"You have your whole life ahead of you still. Don't throw it away because of rangering," Carlos said. "Cassie, back us up here, please."

She held her hands up. "I'm not saying anything because I agree with Justin. He's right."

"He's thirteen, he can't come live with us in space," TJ stated.

"On KO-35 he'd be considered an adult in a few months, and would be allowed to make his own decisions now anyways," Andros said.

"This isn't a game, Andros," TJ replied.

"Or I could pull rank on you, and you wouldn't be able to leave me behind," Justin glared coldly. "If anything, I belong on this search for Zordon more than any of you. I am the last of Zordon's chosen."

Andros had been mostly observing the interaction, had blinked at that admittance. He wasn't really sure what age was considered an adult on Earth, but he didn't think any his teammates were adults on earth. He could understand why they were protecting him, but couldn't understand why they wouldn't just let Justin stay.

"Rank?" Andros double-blinked. He didn't know that the earth rangers used rank. "I didn't know you used rank on earth. You have been a ranger longer than them?"

"Yes," Justin spat out. "Zordon found me worthy and sent me into battle when my predecessor was injured. Rocky passed the torch onto me. If I wasn't capable, I wouldn't have been given the morpher. My first team held more respect for me than this team. Probably because they were only two or three years older than me when I first got my powers when they all received theirs."

Andros was finding he really didn't know how the passing of powers on earth worked, or how rangering was done there compared to on other planets.

"How long were you a ranger before the rest of your team left?" Andros asked. He suddenly had a lot more respect for the young boy than he had before. Cassie as well. She was the only one on Justin's side in this matter.

"Six months. The rest of the rangers were leaving for college or just burnt out all together," Justin said. "Tommy was on his fifth set of powers and third color, and Adam was on his fourth set of powers. They were over it and needed a break."

Andros turned to his team. "You weren't the first Turbo Rangers?"

"I never claimed that we were," Cassie said. "I think I remember telling you about our predecessors at some point in time, Andros. Personally, I think we should let Justin stay. If anything, he would be a brilliant tech."

Justin was getting extremely pissed off. "If you won't let me stay, do you think you could drop me off with Billy on Aquitar. He said that I was welcome to join him if I ever needed to get off planet. He said that the science on Aquitar far more advanced and my speed than Earth's. I told you that I am not going back. Billy would take me in in a heartbeat."

"Justin, you are barely a sophomore," Ashley pointed out.

The younger boy scoffed. "Senior. I took summer school and took pre-calculus and English. Then I passed out of physics and history. I'm taking AP calculus, AP chemistry, AP physics, and my required english and history classes. After transferring schools, again, they made me take placement tests. The administration could not fathom a thirteen year old being at a sophomore level. I took the tests and retook the final exams from my summer school classes. They talked to my summer school teachers. Once they bought my story, and saw my astronomical scores, they moved me up to senior the senior class. The school would have run out of classes for me to take."

The space rangers were all shocked at that admission. They were only juniors, seeing as the former rangers had chosen them as sophomores at sixteen. They were on the older side. It seemed as that their predecessors. Justin would be graduating from high school a whole year before the rest of them.

Cassie felt extremely guilty. She had no idea that he had been in such a bad situation with his dad, or anything about his current school life. She hugged the boy tightly.

"I'm so sorry I forgot about you, Justin. I am really proud of you, if that makes any difference at all," she said to him. The boy accepted her hug, and whispered a thank you in her ear.

"Do you want to stay because you want to be here and apart of the team, or is just because you don't want to go back to your father's house?" Carlos asked. He was genuinely curious, and still felt bad that he was partially responsible for leaving Justin in a home that he knew better than to leave him in.

Justin took a very deep breathe. This was a question he had been dreading, and didn't feel entirely inclined to be answering it. "I really don't know. It's both. My father is awful, but I do miss my team, as awful as you are at times. I truly regret not leaving with you all those months ago. I shouldn't've stayed behind."

"We shouldn't have let you," Cassie said, glaring at the rest of the team, "And that was our fault. Not yours."

"I know that. I've been working in the power chamber since you've been gone. I got the controls back up and working, the computers are operating, slowly, but operating, and I got the teleportation system back up and running again a few weeks ago. I can get to school, my house and here at any time. If you don't leave me behind again, I'll be your new tech."

The three rangers who'd been against this began protesting again.

"Stop it!" Andros said, speaking louder than he would normally dare to do. They all froze and turned to him. "I agree with Cassie and Justin. We should not leave him behind again. Once a ranger-"

"-always a ranger," they all echoed, even if it hurt to day.

"Justin is a ranger, whether you like it or not. He is. So he is going to be a part of this team," Andros said. He walked over to a locker in the rec area, and opened it. He pulled out a uniform and a rectangular device. "Zordon let me know that the day might one day come where we would need this. I wasn't sure what he meant at the time, but I think I understand it now."

TJ and Ashley glanced from Andros to Justin in major confusion. Cassie smiled as widely as she possibly could.

"Are you serious?" TJ asked.

Andros nodded. "If I could get Justin ranger powers, would you let him stay?"

"Of course we would," Cassie said, before the rest could answer. "Justin is a part of our team no matter what we may have thought in the last few months.

"Good," Andros said, tossing a handheld morpher through the air. Justin caught it with ease.

"Is this for real?" he asked.

"Only if you want it. The gold auxiliary morpher is yours," Andros said. He'd just seen Justin in battle, and save all of their lives single handedly. The kid could probably beat any of them in a fight in an instant. Andros would never not take him seriously. If the kid was telling the truth, and it seemed like he was, he'd been trained by rangers that had been rangering for as long as he had, but with even more experience. "You already have my respect, and that makes you worthy in my book."

Tentatively, Justin took the morpher, and flipped it open. The coolest things about morpher's was you knew in an instant how you were supposed to operate them. Perks of the being connected to the morphing grid, instant knowledge of how all weapons worked. There was no studying or manual, you just knew. It was nice.

"Let's rocket!" he called, typing in the code. A flash of light, and the gold ranger was standing in front of the rest of the team. Justin was the same height as he was when he was the turbo ranger. He assumed that it was how tall he would get to be in the next three years. He'd already grown about a six inches or so since he'd left the turbo rangers. "Nice!" he said examining himself. "Power down!"

"You look good, Justin," Cassie noted. "Gold works for you."

"I suppose. I guess I'll need to get some more yellow and gold into my wardrobe," he smiled.

Cassie smiled. "Don't worry, I'm sure we can find you something."

"I guess I'm staying," he smiled.

"I believe you are, Justin."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Justin didn't go home that day. He had made sure to make it looked like he was sleeping in his bed before he left home that night. If he was lucky, his dad wouldn't notice his absence until Sunday morning at least, if not by that afternoon. His father worked tonight. It was wonderful, and simple to fall back on habits that he'd formed when he'd last been an active ranger. Justin got settled in his cabin that he shared with Andros on the megaship, and found time in between a battle to program everyone's communicators to be able to teleport to the Power Chamber in case of an emergency. He found a place where Storm Blaster could live on the ship, and made sure to mentally note in his head to rebuild the garage in the Power Chamber so Blaster could have when he wanted to.

Andros was a lot like Tommy as a leader. He knew what he was doing, and knew what was best for the team. It was easier to work under Andros than it had been TJ. Andros didn't treat him like a child, he treated him as an equal. It was a nice change. He felt like he had when he had first gotten his powers. Andros had as much faith in Justin as Rocky had. There was a trust that Justin could get the job done and well. It was warming, and Justin felt accepted once again.

He called Rocky and Billy, his fellow blues, to tell them he was back on a team. Despite never having fought together with his predecessors, he was close with them. They had knocked some sense into the original Turbo's for the one week when they struggled to take Justin seriously. There was a special blue bond between the three that would always be there. Rocky was proud of him, and a bit jealous that Justin was in space without him, again. Billy said that if he ever had spare time, or was near Aquitar to come visit. Justin promised to take him up on that offer.

Astronema was being kind it seemed on Sunday. Justin went back to his house in his new, black and gold, auxiliary ranger uniform, with the jacket slung over his arm, and his pajamas balled up under his arm. His gold teleportation beam dropped him off a block away from his house. The gold was nice, but he realized he need to work on his glider, so he wouldn't be the only one relying on just teleportation and running. Blaster need a break, and he would give him one. Blaster didn't need to be driving Justin around everywhere he needed to go all the time. It was counter-productive, he believed. He traced both his new and old communicator's on the walk home. It was a reminder that he was taking steps back into the life he wanted. To where he truly belonged.

Justin barely blinked as he unlocked the door to his house and collapsed on the couch. He needed to eat more, and had forgotten how fast an increased metabolism kicked in after receiving a new morpher. He was really hungry and was debating going to the store or just finding whatever he had bought the last time he went to the store. His dad often forgot that he needed to shop. Justin would take money from the savings jar to buy food more often than he should be.

Then he needed to call Jason to see if he had anything in gold or black he could have. He looked in his closet after he'd trudged up the stairs to take a nap. There was a lot more dark yellows and black than he remembered buying. The morpher chose him a long time before he had gotten it.

Homework was still a necessity, so Justin reluctantly got out of bed in the later afternoon and went to work on it in the kitchen. College applications were due soon, and he was going to get his national exam scores in the mail any day now. He'd already has been sought after by many prestigious colleges, and had interviews lined up with MIT and CalTech for after he got accepted into them.

The front door opened, then was abruptly slammed shut, altering Justin that his father was home. The crazed senior glanced up and waved before turning back to his essay.

"Hey, Justin, how was your day today?" his father said. Justin barely took notice of how his father talked down to him.

"Homework filled. I've got an English essay due tomorrow, and a chemistry test on Tuesday that I need to study for. Both are worth huge percentages of my grade. I've been working on these most of the day," He replied. It was a lie. He only had been doing that this afternoon. He spent most of the morning doing much needed maintenance on the Megaship. Andros was good at keeping it running, but Justin was surprised that they had made it this far without it breaking down in the midst of a zord battle.

It fell silent in the kitchen. Justin had made it clear with his tone that he wasn't in the mood to talk. Justin had actually thought his father walked away.

"Where were you this morning?" Mr. Stewart asked. "You weren't in bed when I left."

Justin froze, but was surprised it had taken his father so long to actually notice he was missing.

"I went to hang out and study with Tommy and Rocky. I either left before you, or after you." Justin found lying was so much easier when you had an excuse not to look someone in the eyes. There was no way that he would be admitting to not being home since Friday night. It wasn't a lie entirely. He was hanging out with some of his friends, just not Tommy and Rocky. He'd have to let them know that he was a ranger once again. That way they knew to lie for him.

"Don't lie to me, Justin," his father said firmly.

"I'm not. Rocky picked me up this morning, and I spent around three hours studying with them in Angel Grove. I got home at one, and have been sitting here working on papers and homework since then."

His father still didn't buy it. "Are you sure that you aren't overworking yourself? You are only thirteen. I could have you moved down a few grades if you need a break."

"Thanks for worrying, Dad, but I'm fine. I've just got to finish out the year. Most colleges I want to go to have already sought me out. I'm not going to go backwards in my education now," Justin said tensely. His father really didn't get what he was trying to do with his life.

"Fine. But if I think this is getting to be too much for you, I will go in and talk to the school," Mr. Stewart stated.

"Whatever." Mr. Stewart walked away after that. Justin knew he wouldn't do that. His teachers would laugh his father out of the building if he came in claiming Justin was overworked and under too much stress. It was an empty threat. It left Justin feeling more at peace with himself. A year as a ranger had given him the ability to manipulate the situation to whatever form he wanted. His father wouldn't be able to do anything.

Justin was grateful for that.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It had been an honest mistake. Justin hadn't meant to find the chamber, he'd just been reinforcing all the locks on the megaship DECA had let him in so that Justin could fix the lock and update the computer's in the room. Andros had told Alpha and DECA that he had full access to anywhere on the ship. He had learned the basics of Kerovian technology, and mastered it in a few short days. The security system on the ship was in shambles. It was embarrassing really. There was no doubt in his mind the reason why the Ninja Turtles had so easily managed to break into the megaship.

…but this room.

Andros had been keeping secrets from the rest of the team. Justin did not know what happened to his first team, but he had a better idea now.

The room was an infirmary. That much was clear. With equipment keeping a person alive to go with it. A ranger. A silver space ranger, to be exact. Something had happened on KO-35 to turn Andros into a spacer. He had a feeling there was a reason why he kept this ranger in a coma on his ship.

Justin fixed the door, and made sure that he would come and make sure that all the equipment was properly working. If the state of the ship was any indication, it would need some work. And he would need to do it soon, if someone's life was possibly at risk. He needed to pay a visit to Billy and then talk to Andros.

Andros clearly wanted to keep this a secret. The rest of the team didn't know. Justin wasn't a snitch. Right now the secrets his red held would have to stay that way. Justin would talk to him as soon as he had a good idea of what he wanted to do and make of the situation.

So he left a note with Alpha and DECA. Justin and Blaster were going to go on an excursion to Aquitar.

Getting to Aquitar, and through the planetary customs was easier than going from country to country on Earth. It was surprising really. You would think that planets would be more wary of actual illegal aliens than people moving from country to country on Earth. But, Justin guessed part of that was because he was a ranger with more than one set of powers under his belt, and that he was acquaintances with one of their own citizens.

Billy was waiting for him with a few of the Aqutarian Rangers, and who he assumed was his girlfriend. They were all wearing their respective colors. Justin spotted Billy easily because he was the only human in the area. The rest were humanoid, but they were clearly of a different species.

"Hey, Billy!" Justin said to the ranger, shaking the elder's hand.

"Salutations, Justin, it is nice to finally meet you in person," Billy responded.

"I agree. It's nice to meet the person who I had to live up to. Do you think I managed to uphold your legacy?" Justin asked. This was a meeting he never expected to get to have, yet was having it.

Billy grinned. "Of course. Adam and Rocky never could speak anything less than praise of you and your rangering. I was very glad to hear you got to be a part of another team. Having your team move on without you is a very difficult thing to go through."

"I know. I actually had a few things I wanted to ask you and your friends about my team. I've stumbled upon something's that are concerning. I need to know what happened in the last few years with the former space rangers. These are my friends and colleagues, Cestro, Aurico and Delphine. The rest of the team and my fiancée are busy today."

"It's nice to meet you," Justin said. He nodded to each of them. "I'm Justin Stewart, third generation Blue Ranger of Earth, and the new Gold Space Ranger."

"It's nice to meet you," Delphine replied. Justin assumed that she was the white ranger based on the colors of the uniform she wore. "Billy, let's take this back to your lab. I feel like this conversation is a bit too sensitive for the public."

"Agreed. It's not far, if you don't mind a bit of a walk."

"Not at all," Justin replied. He then turned and grinned at Billy. "Your lab?"

"Of course. I thought you'd be more comfortable there than at my home," Billy said, adjusting his glasses. "If what I have heard from interplanetary communications from my friends, you would most likely really enjoy being there."

Justin had no reply other than a shit eating grin.

Billy's lab had not only exceeded Justin's expectation, but it had blown all of his fantasies out of the water. Everything that he had dreamed about had come true in Billy's lab. Not that the lab was a lab. It was more like a zord garage filled with every technology known the universe.

"This is heaven!" Justin breathed.

"I thought you think that," Billy said. "That is why I offered you a job here if you ever needed one. The offer still stands if you ever decided to give up being a ranger."

Justin couldn't help but fawn over the lab as a whole. "I will take you up with that offer at some point in time."

"Good," Aurico said. "He needs someone to bounce ideas off of, and someone that can keep up with Billy's pace. He's advanced our planet's technology to a whole other level. The entire galaxy has advanced with his technology. Well. Except for Earth."

"How's that for irony, huh?" Justin said.

"You mentioned in your email that you needed to talk about something?" Cestro asked. "About your team?"

"What happened to the rangers before my team took the morphers? There isn't much of a ranger database that we have access to on the megaship. Andros is okay with maintenance, but the ship has been falling apart. I've spent the last few weeks putting it back to where it needs to be for top operating condition."

"You mean he hasn't told you?" Delphine asked. She was shocked, but she wasn't entirely surprised. She'd met Andros a few times in her life. He was very reserved, and didn't seem like he would tell people much about his life. "Dark Spector took out the last ranger team, and then he invaded KO-35. Aquitar was one of the planets that took in many of the refugees. The colony has been abandoned for about two years."

"I had just moved here when it all happened," Billy said. "Most of the Kerovians were still in shock at the event. Most didn't know what to make of it."

"Andros team was killed, then," Justin, his enthusiasm from before was nowhere to be found. He knew what it was like to lose someone. "It explains a lot more. He's been searching for Zordon like a madman. When he isn't looking for Zordon, he's following any lead he can get on his sister."

Billy sent him a questioning look. "Didn't Andros's sister vanish almost ten years ago?"

"He's been clinging to the hope that Karone is still alive. I haven't been in the mood to try and reason with the last of his hope," Justin said. "I know the feeling, waiting for my father to come back for me. I also know now that I would have been better off with him never coming back."

"Rocky did mention that he never wanted to see your father's face again when he visited you a few months ago. He ranted to me for an hour because Adam sent him to go complain to someone else," Billy mentioned.

"That sounds about right," Justin said. "What can you tell me about the silver ranger?"

The other three rangers gave him looks of shock. "Zhane? What about him? I thought he had died?" Cestro exclaimed.

Justin blinked. "I don't think he is dead if he is in a life support chamber on the megaship. Back to the state that the ship is in, I'm not sure how much longer the unit will keep him alive."

"The silver ranger is alive, then," Aurico said. "We'd all thought he had died. Why wouldn't Andros find professional medical help for his friend?"

"Andros doesn't trust lightly, it seems. He probably didn't think that doctors could help. I need to know how to keep the system working," Justin said. "Honestly, if he's still in a coma at this point, the ranger is either going to die soon, or wake up. But I don't have a clue as to which it may be."

"Did you bring the blueprints?" Billy asked.

"Of course. What do you take me for?" Justin handed them over to Billy and the other rangers.

"Zhane is still alive. I can't get over that fact," Aurico mentioned again. Billy looked immersed in the spec as soon as he saw them.

"I don't know if there is much that you can do except wait to see if it breaks before you fix it. The machine is self-operating and updating," Billy said. "If something does happen, give me a call and we will figure out how to rebuild it together, okay?"

"That helps, just to know that I can count on you," Justin said. "I never really clicked with my second team. Part of it was because Zordon had no control over them, and they didn't take the code seriously."

"Do you and Andros get along?" Billy asked.

"I think he is the only one that really respects me."

The next day, Justin was not in school. His school was on an institute day, (a school day for teachers without students), and the rest of the team was not. He was working on different things when, Andros came in from his daily work out. He didn't notice Justin or Alpha working on the computers.

"Hey, Andros, can I talk to you?" Justin asked. Andros jumped nearly out of his chair. He had not expected him to be here.

"You scared me. What are you doing here Justin? Don't you have school?" Andros asked.

"We had a day off. No classes. It's nice. There were things that I needed to get done here, so I decided I would get that done while it was quiet," Justin said. "I wanted to discuss some things with you without the others around."

"Sure, what's up?" Andros asked. He hadn't really talked to the younger ranger very much. Andros normally helped him when Justin needed a tool to fix something.

"We need to talk about Zhane," Justin said. He stated it so blatantly it didn't even register with the red ranger right away.

"What do you want to-wait. What?"

"Exactly what I just said. I need to talk to you about Zhane."

Andros stared at the younger ranger. "How did you even?"

"You gave me full access to the megaship. I ran across him when I was reinforcing the locks and the security system. I wanted to make sure that he was alive, so I checked his vitals. The system was in okay shape, but it needs eventually to be worked on," Justin said. "But I wasn't confident with the technology. Billy was helpful in analyzing the blueprints-and with telling me who the Silver Ranger was and why he was in a coma."

Andros didn't even look Justin in the eye. "You are here to yell at me, aren't you? You are mad that I didn't tell you or the team."

"Not at all. You are allowed your secrets, and I hold more respect for you than the rest of your team," Justin said. He turned from his project and sat on top of the main console. "That being said, my first team never kept anything from me. I never understood why until they left. Secrets hurt the team more than they help."

"I don't know how to tell them, Justin."

"I don't know how to tell you to do that, Andros. But don't let them find out for themselves. If you let them stumble upon Zhane, it may have consequences you aren't prepared to face." Justin looked him in the eye. "If the time comes, Billy and I can fix the stasis device. I won't tell the others, I am not a snitch."

"I know. I am sorry you had to find out like that," Andros sighed.

"Don't apologize, just try to follow my advice, okay?"

Justin went back to his work, and Andros left the room. Justin could only hope that he had gotten slightly through to his leader.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Zhane couldn't take his eyes off the kid working on the engines. He was clearly younger than any other person on the team, but he knew what he was doing. His jaw had dropped nearly to the floor. Andros has told him that the new gold ranger was the Turbo's former blue ranger. He also knew that this specific ranger had been one of Zordon's chosen. He had been told that the kid was a genius and a wicked mechanic. All of this was turning out to be true. Zhane was seeing all of this truth in front of his eyes.

The ranger working on the engines was wearing the same black ranger uniform as he was, with a gold t-shirt, and beat up blue converse high tops in place of the boots everyone else had been wearing. The gold ranger, whose name that Zhane could not remember, was a lot shorter than him. Short humans and other species were fine. They existed. That happened. Short humans with pants that were six inches too short, that meant that they were still growing, which meant that this was not a short human, but a young ranger.

He really could see that everything that his teammates had told him. They were all honest people, who had forgotten to mention a little, tiny detail. The gold ranger slid out from under the engine, and came face to face with the gold ranger. He wiped oil off his face and his hands with a rag.

"It's nice to finally meet you in person, Zhane," the gold ranger said, holding out his and for Zhane to take. "I'm Justin."

All Zhane could do was raise a finger and gape at the kid.

"Okay, so you didn't know about me. Or, the team forgot to mention a few things about me," Justin replied to the silence. It was more than likely they forgot he was really as young as he was. Zhane continued to stare at the boy.

"You, you, you," Zhane tried. Words would not form properly for him. Nothing was making sense, not a thing was computing right in his brain.

"Yes?" Justin tried to get him to talk, it was not working.

"You're just a kid," Zhane managed.

Justin laughed. "I'm fourteen, and this is the end of my second year as a ranger."

"You can't be a ranger," Zhane said. His hands were shaking, and he kept trying to blink an older boy into his mind.

Justin shrugged. Clearly he had been through this situation before. He packed up the tools, and left the room. "When you can form words, please come talk to me."

Zhane made a beeline for Andros. He needed answers. There was no way in hell that Andros would willingly let a little kid become a ranger. There was no way that this kid was on his second color. It just wasn't really possible. Yet, there was this kid on the megaship wearing a ranger uniform.

"Um, Andros, please explain, I can't understand. What?" Zhane asked. Andros took a second before realizing what his friend was trying to say.

"You met Justin."

Zhane nodded.

"You have questions."

"Who wouldn't? There is a ten year old on the team!"

"Zhane, calm down. Justin knows what he is doing. He's been a ranger longer than you, Zhane. And he is fourteen, not ten. The first set of earth rangers were fourteen when they received their powers," Andros said. "He can hold his own in a fight, and has more brain power than most of us combined."

"If he is fourteen, how could he be a ranger longer than me," Zhane demanded.

"You were in a coma longer than you've been an active ranger. He's starting his second year as a ranger, he's been one for over a year and a half on active duty. You were always on reserve anyways," Andros said. "It doesn't mean anything against you or Justin. It's just a fact that he has more experience than you do."

Zhane scoffed. "I don't care if you are putting your life in the hands of an inexperienced child, but I am not. Don't let your emotions get in the way of seeing what he actually is," Zhane said.

"I haven't been. Don't let this get to you." Zhane was already gone. Andros sighed. He knocked on the panel.

"Is he gone?" Justin said.

"Yep," Andros replied.

"Cassie owes me ten bucks. I told her this would happen," Justin said. "He's in for a surprise."

"I heard my name," Cassie said, entering the bridge. "What's up?"

"Zhane is underestimating my abilities," Justin said.

"Give him hell until he concedes," Cassie grinned.

"Will do," Justin replied holding out his hand to her.

"What? Oh fine," she glared, digging some cash out of her pocket for him. She had hoped the punk wouldn't con her out of her cash.

"Thank you!"

It took a week for Justin to get fed up with Zhane's mistrust of him. The silver ranger treated him like he was a child, and one that had never even taken a self-defense class before in his life. Every battle, Zhane tried to steer him away from it like Justin was a common civilian, and tried to get him to run if things were getting too dangerous. It was exhausting to try and get the silver ranger to understand he was a competent ranger. Justin was not someone who took kindly to being shoved to the side.

TJ and Carlos seemed annoyed with Zhane's actions towards Justin. They knew that they were wrong in not wanting to let Justin stay with the team in the first place, but it was because they wanted him safe, not because they didn't think that he wouldn't be able to get the job done. Justin had proven himself as a ranger long before the others had even left their homes for Angel Grove. He was still probably more qualified than they all were for the job. Ashley seemed to agree, but she was staying out of the argument all together, her crush on Andros making her not want to be a part of whatever may happen next.

The two were this close to beating Zhane up, but Justin told them to let him simmer. Justin said a friendly spar would be a perfectly fine environment for him to kick Zhane's ass. Ashley reprimanded him for speaking with that kind of language. Justin simply looked at her and laughed. He was a lot more mature than most kids his age. Most kids wouldn't even dream of taking on an older kid, let alone a ranger.

"Justin, you need to back off," Zhane said after a particularly violent fight with one of Astronema's monsters. "I couldn't handle it if you end up getting hurt. I would feel guilty."

He didn't get to finish his statement. Justin had turned and socked him in the jaw. Justin was glaring at him once Zhane was done reeling from the impact.

"Did you just punch me?" he asked.

"Right here, right now. We are going to fight, and maybe then we will see who the better ranger is," Justin said with a coldness that Zhane had never seen from the boy.

"I'm not going to fight you!" Zhane said. Justin hit him again, and kicked him in the chest. "Fine you want a fight? I'll give you one."

Zhane took a swing at Justin, who blocked, took ahold of his arm, and flipped him. Zhane got back up, and an all-out brawl between the two of them began.

Zhane got his ass handed to him. He never questioned Justin's ability again.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Mr. Stewart wasn't blind to everything concerning his son. He may be a terrible parent and not the best man, but he wasn't an idiot. He knew that Justin was a genius, and that his son was special. Justin always was the top of his class when he and his wife were taking care of him together. Then she died, and he couldn't handle taking care of himself, let alone his child, so he sent Justin to a place where he knew that his son would be taken care of.

Looking back on it all now, that may have been a mistake. Justin came home changed. He was way too old and wise for his age. Justin had seen things, and things that were probably not the best for his age. Mr. Stewart had no idea what those things may have been, he'd been gone from his son's life for a year and a half. Though, Mr. Stewart may have needed to place him an area that was not Angel Grove, where Justin was probably in the most danger.

Without his father in his life, however, Justin had thrived. He managed to be moved to high school two years before he was supposed to, and then managed to finish a high school education in the next year. Justin had just been accepted into MIT for the fall on full scholarship. Mr. Stewart couldn't have been prouder.

But his pride for his son was often overshadowed with disappointment for how he was acting out all the time. Justin was rarely home, and he snuck out a ton. It was typical for a normal teenager, but not his Justin, but who knows if it had become normal, he hadn't been there for his son for quite some time.

Then things began to change quickly. Justin stopped wearing blue obsessively. He had used to wear it religiously, and then slowly changed to different shades of yellow and black, and the occasional gold shirt. He wasn't even sure where he got the money for the clothes, and much of it looked altered, so he assumed that Justin got it from a friend. They weren't his size if that was the case, and from what Mr. Stewart gathered, his son had no friends at the school he was attending. He spent a lot of time with friends from Angel Grove, who apparently gave him a bus pass for him to come and visit as often as he wanted to.

Those friends had spent Christmas Eve at his house. There were five college students and six high schoolers that he had invited over. Four girls, seven boys. As a father he was not expecting all of them to show up, let alone act like they were all siblings.

Justin was closest with a boy in blue and red that went by Rocky. The kid teased Justin like no other, and Justin was quick with a comeback each and every time he tried to say something stupid or rude. Mr. Stewart had never seen his son so happy, it filled his heart with joy.

That being said, it was the first time that Mr. Stewart noticed his mistake.

Every single one of those kids seemed to favor specific colors, except Tommy, who wore a Christmas sweater with lots of green, white and red. Ashley and Tanya wore a bit too much yellow, and Cassie and Katherine seemed to love pink way too much. Carlos had a lot of black on, but seemed to want to wear green but couldn't bring himself to it, as his socks were all green. Adam was in the same boat, but wore both in even intervals on his body. Rocky was almost addicted to blue and red as his ugly Christmas sweater only had those two colors on it. Mr. Stewart really did not know what to make of Zhane, white did not work for him with his hair, but the black jacket he wore on top of it seemed to even it out.

But the colors were worrisome. He remembered TJ and Carlos favoring red and green before Justin left with his father. Something was amiss, and the pieces were taking forever to fall into place.

It wasn't until five of the seven Space Rangers revealed their identities to the public that things started to fall into place. The red ranger later on also showed his identity to the public, and it made the fear in Mr. Stewart rise even higher. He knew for a fact that four of them were really close to Justin. He'd met them a few times before Christmas had come along, right after Mr. Stewart had retrieved Justin from the group home. They were there for a lot of the big events in Justin's life in the last year, like the day he was admitted into MIT and the day he graduated.

The colors that they had been wearing during the first time he'd met them was even more worrisome. The rangers had favored different colors then, just as much as Justin had favored blue. The blue ranger used to wear an excessive amount of red, and similar with the black ranger wearing too much green. And Justin currently obsessed with the shades of orange and yellow.

The Space Rangers were the previous Turbo Rangers, not that they had said it out loud, but it was all there to deduce. The public had been told that the gold ranger refused to reveal his identity. Most believed that it was because he was some sort of alien, or was horribly disfigured because he was a ranger. With what Mr. Stewart suspected now, it was neither of those things, rather it was the ranger wasn't even technically old enough to be in high school, let alone a full blown ranger.

Justin had actually taken off a few days prior to the revelation with his friends for a celebratory camping trip on his college acceptances. Rocky and his friend Aisha had picked him up. Justin had immediately gone to hug the boy, who then excused all three of them quickly. As soon as they were gone, he did not believe that they were going camping. None of them were wearing clothes that you camp in. They were all wearing formal clothes, something you would wear to a wedding or a gala with the colors on their backs.

The day that Justin was supposed to come home, he went to work early so he could come home and wait for his son to return. His son that he feared had been a power ranger for the last two years.

Justin didn't even know what day of the week it was when he finally made it home from Zordon's memorial. The fallout from the final battle had been ruthless. There was a reason why the rangers of earth had secret identities, and not public ones.

Justin was in desperate need of sleep. He teleported into his bedroom when he got back to his father's house, and slammed to door before collapsing on his bed without even taking his uniform off. He dropped his morpher on the bedside table next to him. Nobody had slept in the last four days.

The memorial did not go how it should have. Justin found himself between a rock and a hard place. He found himself agreeing with his first team and the rest of Zordon's chosen rather than his current team. There were reasons why he could justify the death of Zordon. Mostly because he knew that Zordon asked Andros to kill him to save everyone else. Andros was currently turning in on himself with guilt over it all. Justin was finally the same age as the first rangers and that was the reason why he even got to go to the memorial. There was a big divide between Zordon's Rangers and the Space Rangers. He was the only bridge between the gap, and it sucked. Kim and Tommy had the originals divided as well. Kimberly was trying to cause trouble, and the boys and Trini all wanted her to not do this now, yet she wouldn't listen.

These were not problems that were going to be addressed while they were all out in the desert, yet they were all acting like children. It made sense, none of them had ever been to a funeral with someone close to them before. It was too much and because it was Zordon's memorial, they couldn't tell their parents or bring along an adult they trusted to help them understand what was going on. Reverting to childish fights and feuds was the easiest way of coping, and it was affecting all eighteen of them.

Fighting with each other was hell. Justin was exhausted. He couldn't handle the people he considered his family tearing each other apart.

Justin was nearly asleep when his father burst into his room. He sat up in an instant, he hadn't been expecting anyone to even be home. He didn't know that his father would even be home. Justin didn't relax when he saw his father, if anything he was even tenser.

His turbo morpher he had flicked onto his wrist and he held his gold one in his left hand. It was force of habit when he felt like he was going to be attacked. He knew consciously that he wasn't going to morph. He had refused to morph in front of thousands of people, it went against the code and the oath he had taken when he had first accepted the Turbo Ranger powers. The other space rangers had not taken very well to the code, and Andros and Zhane were public on their planet.

It didn't help that his reflexes had just screwed him over, and his uniform was mirror that of Zhane's, with gold in the place of silver.

"Justin," his father breathed. Justin quickly flicked his wrist, vanishing his first morpher. "How did you get in here?"

"I've been here," he stated quickly, his eye contact with his father never breaking. He clutched his morpher tighter in his hand.

His father's voice clear and calm. "No more lies, Justin. Please."

Justin's neglectful father was pleading with him. "How would you even know how I got in? How do you know that I haven't been here?"

Mr. Stewart sighed. "I locked the doors, and it was still locked before I came up here."

Justin opened his mouth to refute.

"I checked."

Justin clenched his jaw. "I came in through the window."

His father looked at him. "I locked the window, too, son." It was a hard silence that followed.

Mr. Stewart felt like a father trying to talk his son into admitting he was a junkie or a drug dealer. This, was so much worse, in all reality.

"How do you know that I didn't get in through yours," Justin tried, though the flat tone in his voice didn't leave it.

"I've locked every single thing in the house you may have used to get in," Mr. Stewart exclaimed. "Are we really going to do this? You are wearing the same damn uniform that the silver ranger was wearing!"

"How do you know that it isn't just a costume?" Justin demanded.

"It's been four days, and they didn't wear those until the second day," Mr. Stewart said. "Please."

"I will not say anything, I made a promise. A long time ago to a person who died four days ago."

"I'm your father, Justin," he said.

"Father's do not leave their children in group homes to come and get when they remember they have a kid. They do not leave there kids in towns with often monster attacks that people sometimes die in. They especially do not allow their twelve year old children become friends with rangers, or let them take on a mantle themselves!" Justin yelled. "You do not get that right."

Justin's words hurt, but Mr. Stewart didn't deny it, or apologize. It would be futile. He knew he was a terrible father, and his fourteen year old had to make the best of a bad situation, and would be going to college in a few short months. Mr. Stewart knew he had lost his chance, but he wasn't going to let his kid go that easily.

"Then let me make it up to you, please. Somehow, Justin," Mr. Stewart said.

"You lost that chance back in September when you chose work over me. The day that Andros let me reclaim my rank!" Justin yelled, then he paled. "Shit."

"So you are, were?" Justin just stood frozen. "Justin, why didn't you tell me?"

"I took an oath, I wasn't supposed to tell you ever. I still won't betray that oath," Justin said. "You haven't been chosen by the power. It isn't possible." Justin began to back into a corner. "Only those who will be have ever found out like this."

Justin knew that the game was up, and his father knew.

He couldn't stay here anymore. "I'm here for my things and I am moving in with Zhane and Andros full time until my dorm is ready."

Mr. Stewart felt his heart drop. His son was leaving him. Justin was not here to stay.

"What if I don't allow it? I am your father." He tried to assert his authority over his son one last time.

Justin smirked. "Have you ever fought a Navy Seal? You wouldn't stand a chance. A ranger is ten times stronger with more experience. Don't even try." And it wasn't like he was telling a lie. Justin hadn't been around then. Towards the beginning of the Mighty Morphin era, Navy Seals had been sent in to get rid of the rangers. The military being the military, they didn't even try to do peaceful negotiations. It made for an interesting fight ending with peaceful negotiations from a military surrender. According to Tommy, they had all fled, with half of them begging to be discharged if they never had to see a Ranger again.

"I don't want you to leave. I love you, Justin."

"It's too late. I've grown up and moved on. Thank you for trying, Dad. But it is my life, and I am going to live it as independently as I can."

Justin gave his father a final hug before teleporting out.


	6. Arc 2:Chapter 1

Sage Fender wasn't sure what he was getting into when he met his college roommate. Sure, Sage should have expected he would get a super genius as a roommate, it was MIT after all, he just didn't expect the guy he was randomly place with. He had gotten a letter saying the guy was from Angel Grove, California, which was strange in the first place. Sage had searched Angel Grove at his library, looking for anything he could get on the place, and all he could get was a blip on the map. It was as if the place didn't exist. He had asked around with some friends about the town, and they had given him some comic books about colorful superheroes in spandex known as Power Rangers. Sage had scoffed at his friends, saying something along the lines of nice try.

Then he met Justin Stewart. Justin had moved in a few days before he had after getting special permission from the school to do so. He hadn't been in their dorm when Sage got there, and he just continued on with unpacking from there on out.

Justin's side of the room was typical of what he thought most MIT kids would be. There were half finished projects everywhere, a few picture frames with a bunch of kids smiling in them, and a few notebooks scattered across the desk. Normal, it seemed normal.

Then the kid walked through the door.

He looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, too young to be in college, barely old enough to be in high school. He had short hair, bright blue eyes, and was a bit shorter than Sage himself. He was wearing blue jeans, and a dark jacket, with a dark yellow shirt and matching high tops. It was a strange combination, and in most cases, it would be hard to look at, but somehow, he seemed to make it work.

"Hi, I'm Justin Stewart," he said. He wiped oil off his hand before offering it to Sage.

"Sage Fender," he replied. "It's good to meet you, Justin."

"You as well. Sorry about the oil. I was working on my jeep."

"You have a car?" Sage tried not to sound too surprised. Lots of students had cars, he just didn't expect this kid to have one.

"It's out of order right now. I shouldn't have driven it across the country," Justin said. "I do have a permit, if that is what you are thinking. My friends were very determined to help me move out here. But my jeep could not make the trip unscathed."

"Did you friends buy you the car, or did your parents?" Sage was making an honest attempt to make conversation with his roommate. The kid had kicked off his shoes, and was sitting at his desk, fiddling with the watch he had been wearing on his wrist.

"My friends did. About two years ago, actually. Tommy and Adam were going through a used, junk car phase. They got one for themselves, two of our friends and me," Justin said. "Turns out neither of them can fix or build anything all too great. I rebuilt theirs and modified them to make them run better. Mine still needs work every so often."

Sage just stared in shock. He hadn't been sure what to expect from this kid, and he was even more lost now.

"Well, that's cool. Um, what's you major?" Sage asked.

"Robotics and mechanical engineering. I'm double majoring. I've got time for it," Justin shrugged. Sage got the feeling Justin would graduate before him. "What about you?"

"Um, electrical engineering."

"Awesome. We should study together. I could use someone with a similar intellect to me. Billy doesn't have much time to talk when he can call. It would be fun!"

Sage wasn't sure who this Billy was, but he wouldn't pry. He just nodded, and Justin grinned. He wondered where this friendship would go, or if it even became a friendship. The kid was strange, but he should have expected that. How many people were prodigies on this level?

Justin was not in the dorm often. He got up early, and he got in late. Sage would get breakfast with him in the mornings, and they would chat over cereal, or other cafeteria foods. Most of it was typical. Justin never once mentioned his family, but he would talk about a Tommy and Adam all the time and make comments about a TJ and Andros when he was on the phone as he was entering their dorm when he got back at night.

Then there was one night when Sage got back to the dorm later than normal, he found Justin ranting into the phone.

"No. Not happening. I already told Tommy and the rest of my friends I would couch hop with them for the first week of break before leaving with Billy for my internship with him for the second two weeks. No. Dad please listen to me. No! You weren't there the last three Christmases, why should this one be any different? I'll end up alone, wondering why I even listened to you!" Justin yelled. Then he listened and was silent for a while. "Then maybe you shouldn't have left me in a fucking group home for two years. I'm not going to your house. Fine. Lunch one day. That's it."

Justin violently hung up his phone before dropping down onto his bed.

"I'm sure you have questions, Sage." Sage hadn't been aware Justin knew he came into the room.

"That was your Dad?"

"Mhm. He wants me to come home with him for the holidays. I told him no, but he keeps pushing me. Hell, he wants me to come and go to high school like a normal fifteen year old."

"What does your Mom say about all this?"

"Nothing. She's dead. Mom hasn't had any say in my life since she died when I was ten. Dad dropped me off at the group home a few weeks later. I have an amazing support group. I have an entire group of people who would drop anything for me in a heartbeat. But otherwise, I have been on my own for almost four years."

"Shit, man, I never knew."

"I never told you. I wanted a clean slate. I'm a prodigy in the first place, why make it worse by telling you and everyone at MIT I'm also from a broken home?"

"Justin, I would never think less of you."

"You say that now because you know me. Would you have said that under other circumstances?" Justin asked. Sage closed his mouth, he was right. "Have you thought anymore on getting an apartment next year?"

Justin was sly, and clearly wanted the conversation to stop. Sage indulged him. He wasn't sure what to say on the topic anyways. Justin was just more of enigma than he was before.

The next leg of the first semester fell back into routine. Sage went to classes, nearly got his but kicked by finals, and he watched Justin breeze through them like they were nothing. The kid would still vanish at different times, but he counted that as normal for the most part. Sage was enjoying college. He made new friends, his parents visited once before break to tell him they were going to Europe over the holidays to visit his grandparents.

By the end of finals, Justin was giddy, if not a bit annoyed as well. He'd packed a duffle bag, and had triple checked to make sure his car keys were on his person.

"Dude, you are going to wear out the floor."

"Don't diss me. One of my friends is picking me up and we are going to the airport together. We are flying to Angel Grove tonight, and she's late." Justin crossed his arms and stared at the window. 'Though I don't know why I need a chaperone to teleport back to the Power Chamber.' Justin thought to himself. He had rebuilt the chamber and the teleportation system himself in between his ranger powers.

"Justin, chill. Your friend will get here soon. I'm going to grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria, are you going to join me?" Sage asked.

Justin shook his head. Sage shrugged. His loss. He nearly ran into a girl in yellow walking out the door.

"Oh, sorry. Is this Justin's room?" she asked.

"Aisha!" Justin greeted, and jumped from his place by the window. "You are late!"

"You are impatient." she smiled back at him.

"Sage, this is my friend Aisha. Aisha, Sage. Now we are introduced. Now we can go!" Justin said. It wasn't normal to see Justin acting his age. Sage gave a hurried hello and rushed out of the room. He heard the door slam behind him.

He never saw the two of them leave the dorm. He figured he must have missed them somehow.

* * *

"Sage, would you mind if we had a third person stay with us in our apartment?" Justin asked a few weeks after winter break. Sage was still dreaming about Europe and wasn't too happy to be back at school. Justin, on the other hand, was floating on air at all times. Wherever he had spent his winter break was magical. He had never seen the kid so happy before.

"Depends. Who is it?" Sage wasn't opposed to having a third roommate, but he wouldn't be thrilled with it either.

"My friend Billy Cranston. MIT has been trying to get their hands on him for years. They weren't too pleased when he dropped off the map about three years ago, and they offered him a full ride earlier this week. He'll be twenty-two when he starts next semester and doesn't want to live with a bunch of eighteen and nineteen-year old's," Justin said.

"Is this the genius you've seen as your role model? The one you can't stop talking about?" Sage asked. Justin nodded eagerly. "He's never been to college?"

"He got offered an off-world job with NASADA. We grew up near their base of operations, and they took him not long after he graduated early from high school."

"An internship out of high school?"

"Career. He's bored, and there are places around that want to take him on but won't because he lacks a degree." Justin said. 'Though NASADA had nothing to do with it. They just agreed to be his cover as he returns from Aquitar.'

Sage looked at him for a moment.

"Sure."

"Really?"

"Why not? Cheaper rent for me," Sage shrugged. He had learned so much from Justin, he wondered what his old friend would bring with him. Sage could pick his brain, hopefully. "You are friends with a twenty-two-year-old?"

"He's twenty-one, actually. Most of my friends are older than me. They volunteered at the group home when I was living there. I started hanging out with them outside of the home not long after that. By the start of the next school year, I had skipped two grades, and was in my freshman year of high school."

"Did they help you get into MIT?"

"Nah. They were all in college by then, or busy with work in Billy's case. I only spent two years in high school. Dad moved me out of Angel Grove, and the group I became close with after my first real group of friends left were busy with obligations. They couldn't be there for me for a while."

Sage took note of the word obligations every time Justin said it. It was his go to when he was trying to avoid the subject. Justin used it a lot when he disappeared. Sage couldn't fathom what a fifteen-year-old could be obligated to do. He never asked. It was not any of his business. They were friends, but they weren't close. He honestly did not want to know what a fifteen-year old's obligations were.

"Justin? Am I your friend?" Sage asked. It made him feel childish, but he had to ask.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Dunno. I was just curious."

"Okay. Cool."

* * *

"Come on, Justin! It would be so much fun!" Rocky exclaimed. Sage had just been introduced to Rocky. The twenty-year-old had been laying on Justin's bed, pleading with him since Sage had arrived back at the dorm.

"No. I don't have any desire to go to that," Justin said. "I am trying to study for finals. Something you don't seem to understand, DeSantos."

Rocky pouted. "I understand the importance of finals. Billy, Adam and the girls drilled it into the heads of the rest of us."

"Prove it. I'll consider going next year."

"But it's a Power Rangers convention!" Rocky shouted. "Don't you want to go at all?"

This was over a convention? He really wasn't into comic books and was a bit shocked to find out Justin might be. Rocky seemed to be really enthusiastic about this convention. Justin seemed really annoyed, and he couldn't figure out why.

"No."

"Ashley and Zhane are going to be there!"

"And they are going to get mobbed. I'm not going. Maybe I'll go next year, but I have no desire to go this year."

"I'm dressing up as the original pink ranger, it is going to be awesome!" Rocky continued. "Don't you want to see that?"

Justin smirked. "I'll tell Kim. I know she's in town, and she'll put your head on a stick."

All the color in Rocky's face drained. "You wouldn't."

"I would. Stop bothering me. I'll be back in Angel Grove in a few weeks, we'll hang then, okay?"

"Who are you staying with?" Rocky asked.

"Adam and you, Rocky. I thought he told you? Only when I need it. Otherwise, I'm on KO-35 with the rest. I have to make an appearance every once in a while. They'll replace in if I don't."

"Right, government officials and all that crap. Cool. I guess I'll see you soon," Rocky said. "Are you sure you don't want to go with me?"

"Rocky, get out."

The kid rushed out of the room in a red and blue blur.

"Interesting friend you've got there. Is he always that oblivious?" Sage asked Justin.

"Nope. He's rather observant. Rocky's studying to become a social worker. He worked at the home in Angel Grove for a long time when he was in high school. It really called to him. He's probably my best friend."

"Oh." Sage didn't expect Justin to say Rocky was his best friend. "Should you have been so harsh on him?"

"He gets it. If I'm not harsh, they will still see me as an innocent twelve-year-old who needs to be protected. Rocky will get over it. Or forget about it when Kim beats his head into his skull."

Sage wasn't sure why Justin said that. He let it slide and went back to studying for his own finals. In the next few days, Justin was leaving to go back to California, and Sage would be going back to his parents' house. He'd see Justin in a few months and wait to see if he could solve the mystery that surrounded Justin Stewart.


End file.
